YOUCAT Lesson 424
YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth
424 What is adultery? Is divorce the appropriate response?
Adultery is committed when two people, at least one of whom
is married to someone else, have sexual relations. Adultery is the fundamental betrayal of love,
the violation of a covenant that was made in God’s sight, and an injustice to one’s neighbor. Jesus himself explicitly declared the
indissolubility of marriage: “What therefore God has joined together, let not
man put asunder” (Mark10:9). Citing the original will of the Creator,
Jesus abolished the toleration of divorce in the Old Covenant. [2353,
2364-2365, 2382-2384]
St. John Chrysostom suggests that young husbands should say
to their wives: I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you
to my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is
to spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not being
separated in the life reserved for us. . . . I place your love above
all things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a
different mind than you. --[Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2365. See also St. John Chrysostom, Hom. In Eph.
20, 8: PG 62, 146-147]
The encouraging promise of this message of Jesus is, “as
children of your heavenly Father you are capable of lifelong love.” Nevertheless, it is not easy to remain
faithful to one’s spouse for a lifetime.
We must not condemn people whose marriages fail. Nevertheless, Christians who irresponsibly
bring about divorce incur guilt. They
sin against God’s love, which is visible in marriage. They sin against the abandoned spouse and
against abandoned children. Of course
the faithful partner in a marriage that has become unbearable can move out of
shared living accommodations. In some
serious circumstances, it may be necessary to go through a civil divorce. In well-founded cases the Church can examine
the validity of the marriage in an annulment proceeding. 269
“Fidelity is absolute
anywhere…or else it does not exist.”
Karl Jaspers (1883-1969, German philosopher)
“The root of the crisis of marriage and family lies in a
false notion of freedom.” Pope St. John
Paul II (1920-2005)
“A ratified and consummated marriage between baptized
persons cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than
death.” Codex Iuris Canonici (Code of Cannon Law of the Catholic
Church)
[2353, 2364-2365,
2382-2384]
Offenses against
chastity
2353 Fornication is
carnal union between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman. It is gravely
contrary to the dignity of persons and of human sexuality which is naturally
ordered to the good of spouses and the generation and education of children.
Moreover, it is a grave scandal when there is corruption of the young. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second
Edition
* Conjugal fidelity
2364 The married couple forms "the intimate partnership of
life and love established by the Creator and governed by his laws; it is rooted
in the conjugal covenant, that is, in their irrevocable personal consent."
(Gaudium
et Spes 48 § 1.)147 Both
give themselves definitively and totally to one another. They are no longer two;
from now on they form one flesh. The covenant they freely contracted imposes on
the spouses the obligation to preserve it as unique and indissoluble. (Compare
Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 1056.)148 "What
therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." (Mark 10:9; compare Matthew 19:1-12; 1 Corinthians 7:10-11.)149 --CCC
2365 Fidelity expresses
constancy in keeping one's given word. God is faithful. The Sacrament of
Matrimony enables man and woman to enter into Christ's fidelity for his Church.
Through conjugal chastity, they bear witness to this mystery before the world. --CCC
St. John Chrysostom suggests that young husbands should say to
their wives: I have taken you in my arms, and I love you, and I prefer you to
my life itself. For the present life is nothing, and my most ardent dream is to
spend it with you in such a way that we may be assured of not being separated
in the life reserved for us. . . . I place your love above all
things, and nothing would be more bitter or painful to me than to be of a
different mind than you.150 --CCC
Divorce
2382 The
Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that
marriage be indissoluble. (Compare Matthew 5:31-32; Mt 19:3-9; Mark 10:9; Luke 16:18; 1 Corinthians 7:10-ll.)174 He abrogates the accommodations that had
slipped into the old Law. (Compare Matthew 19:7-9.)175 –CCC
Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage
cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than
death." (Codex
Iuris Canonici, can. 1141.)176
--CCC
2383 The separation of
spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases
provided for by canon law. (Compare Codex Iuris
Canonici, cann. 1151-1155.)177
--CCC
2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural
law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to
live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of
salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union,
even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the
remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery: --CCC
If a husband, separated
from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes
that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress,
because she has drawn another's husband to herself. (St. Basil, Moralia 73,1:Patrologia Graeca
31,849-852)178 --CCC
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